China is building a Forest City in Liuzhou

The Chinese city of Liuzhou is planning to create a city from the ground up, which will not only provide accommodation to its residents but will also fight pollution. Liuzhou Forest City designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti and commissioned by Liuzhou Municipality Urban Planning Bureau is now under construction.

Liuzhou Forest City will have the capacity to host 30,000 people. The city will have offices, houses, hotels, and two schools and a hospital along with other buildings and spaces. Construction of the city is expected to be completed fully by 2020.

The city will span an area of 175 hectares along the Liujiang River. It will be covered by almost 40,000 trees and 1 million plants. These trees and plants will not only be in parks and gardens but also around streets, on building facades, and rooftops. The greenery of the buildings in the city will help in moderating temperatures inside the buildings both in summer, and in winter, and will also help in reducing sound pollution.

The plants and trees there will represent over 100 species and will provide habitats for different animals, birds and insects which will greatly enhance the local biodiversity.

The best thing about trees is, that unlike most other species they suck up carbon dioxide and release oxygen whereas other species do just opposite. This creates a carbon cycle which balances the amount of carbon dioxide and oxygen present in the atmosphere. Factories and most conventional power generation methods also release carbon dioxide, which affects the carbon cycle, taking the equilibrium towards carbon dioxide. This shift in equilibrium is one of the reasons behind global warming.

China knows the cost of pollution very well, in fact, several of its cities are among the most polluted in the world. Its cities are always plagued by heavy smogs and polluted air. Most of the Chinese population either lives in coastal cities or cities in close proximity to coastal areas, which have a very high risk of going underwater with rising sea levels.

Liuzhou Forest City will help in offsetting carbon dioxide by approx. 10,000 tonnes, while also removing almost 57 tonnes fine dust particles from the air every year. This is not going to change anything significantly but will work as an example, which other Chinese cities can then follow.

According to its designer, the city will generate its own power using geothermal energy and solar panels. It will be interesting to see, whether the city can survive completely on its own, in terms of energy requirement.

About Stefano Boeri Architetti

Stefano Boeri Architetti founded by Stefano Boeri in 1993, is an Italian design firm headquartered in Milan, Italy. It has offices in Shanghai and Tirana. It is the company responsible for the design of famous Vertical Tower (Bosco Verticale in Italian) located in Milan.

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